Categories: New York Times

Sighted: Faint Encouraging Glimmer For Newspapers

Posted by: Jon Fine on May 15

People are still paying for the print newspaper. In fact, in almost all cases, people are paying more for the print newspaper: circulation revenues rose, if slightly, at almost all…

What David Geffen Sees In The New York Times

Posted by: Jon Fine on May 12

(The following item was written by BusinessWeek’s Los Angeles Bureau Chief Ron Grover. Thanks, Ron.) It’s the hottest topic on two coasts. Why in the world would David Geffen, perhaps…

20% Down Is The New Up: The First Quarter’s Tally

Posted by: Jon Fine on May 05

I’ve made the point (over and over again) that the dynamics of this ad environment, especially on the print side, have deteriorated to the extent that the old saying—flat is…

The Steepening Slide At The New York Times: The Paper, Not The Company

Posted by: Jon Fine on April 21

There’s plenty of bad news in the New York Times Co.’s first quarter earnings, but the worst of it is this: the steepening slide at its flagship New York Times….

The Underlying Reality Of Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. And The New York Times

Posted by: Jon Fine on April 02

The New York Times Co’s market cap is down to $720 million, as I write this, and the day’s tides of media and commentary bring in, virtually every day, pre-obituaries…

News Corp Posts First Quarterly Loss In Three Years; 14 Laid Off At Wall Street Journal, And The Relative Performance of The WSJ and the New York Times

Posted by: Jon Fine on February 05

A grand coincidence? Well, yeah, actually. Judging from the dynamics for virtually any comparable major media outlet (and especially one that gets the bulk of its revenues from print), you…

The New York Times Company, Carlos Slim, and Timing.

Posted by: Jon Fine on January 20

If you were a closely-watched media company and you wanted to ensure that your news about a major new investor made the least possible splash whatsoever, do you maybe think…

The Reported Carlos Slim/New York Times Talks Show Continued Reshaping Of An Old Newspaper Industry Adage

Posted by: Jon Fine on January 18

The new buyer or investor of last resort for a trophy newspaper is no longer the local real estate tycoon. It’s a billionaire from overseas. The piece I wrote for…

Dinner With Rupert Murdoch Biographer Michael Wolff, Mach 2: Does The New York Times Co. = Dow Jones?

Posted by: Jon Fine on December 03

(Part 2 of excerpts from a dinner discussion I had on Nov. 20 with Rupert Murdoch biographer/Vanity Fair columnist/Fine on Media pal Michael Wolff. If you haven’t seen Part 1,…

Gerard Baker, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, And Differing Notions Of A Partisan Press

Posted by: Jon Fine on November 12

(This post originally misspelled Baker’s first name.) There is a great deal of stuff flying around the Web and being forwarded to me that point out some of the more…

A Quick Conversation With New York Times Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal: “Information Isn’t Free”

Posted by: Jon Fine on October 17

Andrew Rosenthal, who’s run the Times’ editorial page since January of last year, spoke at lunch at the ANA convention today. And, if I may be simultaneously self-interested and lazy,…

So … I Guess Bloomberg Won’t Be Buying The New York Times

Posted by: Jon Fine on October 01

This news will, at long last, put at least a temporary kibosh on the whole wacky notion that a post-Mayoral Michael Bloomberg might buy the New York Times. Some Bloomberg…

Is The New York Times Co. Really Worth Less Than CNET?

Posted by: Jon Fine on July 25

I had the honor of backstopping Jay Yarow on this fun, complex and uglifying analysis he did regarding the New York Times Co. According to his calculations, the New York…

Bloomberg-New York Times: OK? No Way. But Then Someone Raises A Newer Notion …

Posted by: Jon Fine on May 02

There are (still) people within Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s orbit that still think that a post-mayoral bid for the New York Times would be a worthy next-act for the Mayor, who…

The Most Significant Recent Event For The New York Times Co. Is …

Posted by: Jon Fine on January 30

Multiple choice: The more significant event in recent days for the New York Times Co. is:…

The Continuing Saga Of Anyone Being Able To Do Video On The Web

Posted by: Jon Fine on December 05

Andy Plesser from beet.tv came by late last week to film a quick segment bouncing off my media predictions for 2008. And it looks a little bit like this, at…

Web 2.0 Conference: Rupert Murdoch and Chris DeWolfe, In Which Chris Talks About His New Contract And Rupert Finds The Notion Of Killing The New York Times “Nice”

Posted by: Jon Fine on October 17

Quick takes on a meandering post-supper discussion: —Chris DeWolfe is re-upping for a couple more years at MySpace, he told attendees tonight. His initial two-year deal signed at the time…

MoveOn and the New York Times: The Current State of Play

Posted by: Jon Fine on September 24

Once you factor out all of the hyperventilating, here is what is actually happening vis-à-vis MoveOn.org’s “Betray Us?” ad: 1. The lefties at MoveOn, who allegedly got a sweetheart deal…

More Tediousness In Re: Alleged Liberal Media Bias

Posted by: Jon Fine on September 14

Kerfluffle over the (heavily discounted) MoveOn.org ad that appeared in the New York Times this week, etc., whatever, so not even close to the craziest ad I’ve seen in that,…

Annotating the New York Times Co.’s August Numbers

Posted by: Jon Fine on September 12

I want to say that by not being a complete disaster, The New York Times Co.’s August results are actually pretty good. But that would be over-optimistic. Nevertheless, said results…

Another Wrinkle On The Dow Jones Sale

Posted by: Jon Fine on August 06

New York magazine puts its finger on one other potential side effect of Murdoch’s purchase of Dow Jones which I haven’t heard mentioned much. A Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal…

It’s Not A Flip-Flop. It’s An Evolution!

Posted by: Jon Fine on July 27

This week’s column is about how I’m coming around to think that the New York Times Co. is better off going private. Alan Mutter rightly notes that this is a…

Additional Evidence Anyone Can Do Video On The Web

Posted by: Jon Fine on May 25

In the below mediabistro.com video, I express bafflement at Michael Wolff’s insistence that the New York Times Co. is dangerously close to being “in play,” and attempt to make him…

Murdoch’s Big Plans For The Wall Street Journal (Assuming He Ends Up Owning It)

Posted by: Jon Fine on May 04

The more I read and think about this, the more I come to the interpretation that Rupert sees in the Wall Street Journal a chance to build a paper that…

The New York Times Co. And Managing Expectations

Posted by: Jon Fine on April 24

The New York Times, “A Difficult Annual Times Meeting for Sulzbergers,” published just before this morning’s annual meeting of Times Co. shareholders: “According to people who have spoken with [NY…

Not What The New York Times Co. Wants In The News Just Before Its Annual Meeting

Posted by: Jon Fine on April 20

(from the ever-firewalled Wall Street Journal, emphasis added) Amid a declining market for print advertising, publishers have increasingly pointed to the growth in their online ad revenues. But New York…

The New York Times And This Whole Dual Class Stock Thing

Posted by: Jon Fine on April 12

The New York Times Co.’s showdown with Morgan Stanley portfolio manager Hassan Elmasry, some coverage might lead you to believe, has everything: Family. A venerable franchise. Pride. Righteous, or self-righteous,…

Don’t Be Betting That The New York Times Will Take Itself Private

Posted by: Jon Fine on April 10

I generally find Alan Mutter’s Reflections of a Newsosaur quite perceptive, which is why I’m scratching my head over his most recent post about how the way out for the…

Whoa. Just: Whoa.

Posted by: Jon Fine on March 20

The New York Times Co. reports its February revenues. It is not pretty: The New York Times Company announced today that in February 2007 advertising revenues from continuing operations decreased…

Lehman on New York Times Co.: Stock Gains Driven By Protestors, Short Sales

Posted by: Jon Fine on February 26

Lehman Brothers analyst Craig Huber just came out with a report suggesting that the New York Times’ decent stock performance thus far this year comes in part from a rise…

TV Stations: Easier To Sell Than Newspapers

Posted by: Jon Fine on January 05

The New York Times Co.’s sale of its broadcast TV stations suggests that sale multiples for broadcast tv stations—in this case, major-network affiliated TV stations primarily located in mid-sized markets—are…

Key Excerpts From The Speech New York Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson Didn’t Give To Investors At This Week’s Media Conferences

Posted by: Jon Fine on December 06

Thank you. It’s a great time to be publishing big-city newspapers in America. [PAUSES AND SMILES, WAITS FOR AUDIENCE LAUGHTER TO SUBSIDE] I do mean that. But I do know…

Sometimes Psychological Motivations Are Not That Complex

Posted by: Jon Fine on November 29

Hank Greenberg must be in need of some attention. Let’s not forget that—how to put this?— you can’t put the Times in play, period. Or that Greenberg might be a…

What’s Missing From The Coverage of Yesterday’s News From The New York Times Co.

Posted by: Jon Fine on September 13

From the New York Times Co.’s Sept. 12 press release announcing the sale of its nine TV stations: Last year, the Broadcast Media Group accounted for approximately 4% of the…

Regarding ‘Today’s Dishonest Attack On The Times’: Ex WSJ-er And Current NYT-er Fires Back at WSJ Editorial Page

Posted by: Jon Fine on June 30

(Gardiner Harris, who sent the following email in response to this bizarre, inflammatory and very lengthy editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal, spent a few years at the Journal before…

Son of Plamegate: The Movie

Posted by: Jon Fine on November 03

Almost everyone who emailed about this casting thinks that Catherine Keener signifies “soft Judy” rather than “hard Judy.” And one source close enough to the situation insists that only Judy…

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.: Rocker

Posted by: Jon Fine on October 27

Shock waves from the Judith Miller situation continued to reverberate. Voices within the mainstream media establishment were now calling for his head. So what did New York Times Publisher (and…

Throwing Judy From The Train

Posted by: Jon Fine on October 24

The sound you are hearing is the New York Times throwing Judy Miller overboard, thanks to blunt comment from a passel of Times heavies including Executive Editor Bill Keller and…

Kurt Andersen on Judy Miller and Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.

Posted by: Jon Fine on October 21

The following quotes come from Kurt Andersen’s “Imperial City” in the next issue of New York magazine, which hits (with great bluntness) on Monday: [Last Sunday’s New York Times epic]…

Plamegate: The Movie

Posted by: Jon Fine on October 19

John Tierney had a very sensible explanation as to why he’s not written about the Judy Miller situation, and that’s what I’ve used to explain why I’ve kept quiet about…

Bill Keller Looks Remarkably Like What You’d Expect The Editor of the New York Times Should Look Like

Posted by: on October 10

I know, I know, his real title is “executive editor,” but the headline’s too long as it is. I heard him speak at a marketing conference in Phoenix last Friday…